The undead have descended upon the world? I possess a sword that can cleave the heavens once more!

Next to Lanxing Residential Area, in front of a teppanyaki tofu stall.

Two small plastic stools were used to squat two large men. One of them was wearing a gray short-sleeved shirt, with a rugged face and a broad back. When he squatted there, he looked like a solid stone block.

Another person, dressed in a white short-sleeved shirt and wearing silver half-rimmed glasses, looked very refined. He was holding a box of grilled tofu and eating it with a bamboo skewer.

The pan-fried food was crispy and fragrant, sprinkled with chili powder and cumin powder, and mixed with chopped green onions. The aroma wafted far and wide.

The stall owner, a woman in her fifties, was flipping through the tofu on the griddle while stealing glances at the two men—one as strong as a thug, the other as refined as a teacher, squatting together eating tofu. This combination looked strange no matter how you looked at it.

"What do you think of him?" Ye Yi picked up a piece of tofu, blew on it, and put it in her mouth.

The burly man swallowed a large mouthful, squinted his eyes, and savored the taste: "Very good lad, your swordsmanship is quite excellent."

He paused.

"It's just that he's a bit too bloodthirsty. He's always either practicing swordsmanship or hunting down zombies. Young people should have a more varied life, you know."

Ye Yi nodded. The spiciness of the tofu spread on his tongue, and he ate until his forehead was slightly sweaty: "My childhood friend was killed by the zombie species, so it's normal for him to be a bit bloodthirsty. Besides, in our line of work, killing zombie species is a good habit."

"That's true," the burly man said, poking at another piece of tofu and chewing it a couple of times. "But we still need to pay attention to their mental state; being too tense isn't good."

Ye Yi glanced at him, didn't reply, and poked at another piece of tofu.

The burly man continued, "This kid has incredible talent. His strength is already at least at the fourth level—and he only awakened his abilities a little over two months ago, right?"

Ye Yi was about to nod when the burly man finished speaking.

"And I feel like it's more than just level four." He stuffed another piece of tofu into his mouth and mumbled, "He probably didn't use his full strength."

Ye Yi paused in her hand as she poked at the tofu.

He completely believed what the man in front of him said; if he said it was more than the fourth level, then it was more than the fourth level.

That's... fifth rank?

Ye Yi looked down at the two pieces of tofu left in the cardboard box and suddenly felt a sense of unreality. He himself was a sixth-level ability user, and had been the deputy director of the Investigation Bureau for almost ten years, climbing the ranks step by step. This young man, having awakened his ability just over two months ago, was already almost at his level?

He suddenly remembered something, and the corners of his mouth curved into a smile: "That's perfect. This year, he and Xiao Qi can go to Jiuli's preliminary training together. I was originally thinking that he would only be able to reach the fifth level next year, but I didn't expect him to reach it so soon."

The burly man nodded, stuffing the last piece of tofu from the cardboard box into his mouth: "Indeed. For them, Lanhe City is still too small."

He chewed on the tofu and glanced at Ye Yi.

"But you're quite willing to give it up."

Ye Yi tossed the bamboo skewers into the cardboard box, her tone indifferent: "There's no such thing as being reluctant to part with them. There are places that need them more than Lanhe."

The burly man shook his head, a slight smile on his face: "You're still the same, Old Ye."

. . . . . .

After finishing dinner, Wu You went to Fengxiang Martial Arts School to practice swordsmanship as usual.

When he came out of the sword-practicing meditation room, it was already completely dark. He carried a long cloth bag and walked out through the corridor.

In the corridor, a young man wearing a black T-shirt happened to pass by. Wu You saw him and nodded politely to him.

Zhao Hui is a long-time student at Fengxiang Martial Arts School. Today, he had just changed his clothes and came out when he saw the figure he had seen before walking towards him from the other end of the corridor.

He wore a black trench coat, stood tall and straight, and carried a long cloth bag in his hand.

Zhao Hui's gaze fell on the cloth bag. Others might not notice, but he was different. He had practiced swordsmanship for nearly ten years; his sensitivity to the sword was practically ingrained in his bones. The shape of the cloth bag, the swaying arc—

That was a sword.

As Zhao Hui watched the figure disappear into the martial arts school entrance, a thought suddenly popped into his mind: Since he was the school owner's guest, he must be a master. If only he could spar with such a swordsman...

His face flushed red, and his heart skipped a beat, but he immediately deflated—this was an important guest of the museum owner, and he couldn't just go up and ask questions rashly. If he offended the owner, things would get very bad, and the owner would skin him alive.

He patted his head, making up his mind: he'd ask his cousin in the next couple of days if there were any skilled swordsmen at her school. Maybe he could find out something.

. . . . . .

After leaving Fengxiang Martial Arts School, Wu You walked towards the parking lot.

The streetlights are still the same few, spaced far apart, casting a dim and gloomy light.

He paused when he reached the entrance of an alley.

This area was darker than the rest of the place. The streetlights were blocked by a nearby residential building, casting a large shadow. A cool breeze blew by, and the plastic bags rolled twice on the ground, making a rustling sound.

The cold energy within my body suddenly surged violently.

It wasn't a fluctuation, it was a riot, the exact same riot as last time: it was like something exploded inside the body, and the quietly flowing cool air instantly boiled and surged wildly.

Wu You reacted instantly.

It was that royal corpse.

He instinctively wanted to run, but as soon as he lifted his foot, he put it down again.

The words Ye Yi had said to him before flashed through his mind.

Ye Yi had no reason to lie to him; the bureau must have made arrangements.

Wu You took a deep breath, suppressing those chaotic thoughts. Although his heart was still beating fast, his hands were steady.

He stopped, closed his eyes, and silently sensed the direction from which the chill flared most prominently.

Behind.

And it's very close.

He abruptly drew his sword and turned around—

A streak of gray-white sword light, a mixture of red, orange, blue, and green, exploded in the night, the blade slicing through the air with a sharp hissing sound.

"bite--"

Two fingers.

The black-clad corpse stood less than two meters behind him, its face expressionless, its pure black eyes silently watching him. Its right hand was raised, its index and middle fingers precisely gripping the tip of the four-colored longsword.

The sword light abruptly stopped.

Wu You stared at the two fingers, and his mind calmed down.

Because this time, he saw it clearly.

Last time, he didn't see anything from beginning to end; he felt a chill in his chest, and his hand passed right through him.

This time, he at least saw clearly how the other party made their move. Although it was very fast, so fast that his eyes could hardly keep up, he did catch it—the trajectory of those two fingers as they lifted, the action of pinching the tip of the sword, and even the sword light reflected in those pure black eyes.

This means that, facing this royal corpse, he is no longer as powerless as he was last time.

Wu You flicked his wrist, and the longsword was pulled out from between those two fingers.

The Nine Shadow Steps were activated instantly.

With a burst of speed from his feet, his figure blurred into a blur. The four-colored longsword twirled in his hand, thrusting, slashing, parrying, and hacking, each strike carrying a grayish-white light, each aimed precisely at the vital points of the black-skirted corpse.

For a moment, the area within ten meters was filled with afterimages of people and swords.

The afterimages of people and swords were densely packed and overlapping, making it impossible to distinguish which was real and which was fake.

The black-clad corpse stood still, its body shifting slightly.

Its movements were small, just turning its body to the side, tilting its head, and raising its hand. Every movement was just right, and every time it accurately blocked Wu You's sword.

Wu You was fast, but it was even faster; Wu You changed its moves, and it changed them accordingly. Those dense afterimages were like a thin sheet of paper in front of it, easily torn apart with a gentle poke.

Wu You didn't ask why it was targeting him, and the black-skirted corpse remained expressionless. The two of them, without any unnecessary words, went straight into battle mode.

In just a few minutes, they exchanged at least hundreds of moves.

Wu You gritted his teeth, the cold energy and special power within his body surging wildly. He pushed the Nine Shadow Steps to its limit and the Shadow Slash to its extreme. Each sword strike was faster and more ruthless than the last.

The black-clad zombie remained expressionless.

Wu You took a deep breath.

The final strike.

He gripped the sword with both hands, channeling all his power into the blade. The gray-white light on the four-colored sword shone brightly, almost overshadowing the original four colors of the sword.

The next second, Shadow Slash is activated!

The main body and all the afterimages drew their swords at the same instant, stabbing at the black figure in the middle from all directions!

This is Wu You's strongest move right now.

The moment the sword light fell, the black-clad corpse's movements finally slowed down by a beat.

Three sword marks landed on its body. One on its left arm, one on its right shoulder, and one from its waist down to its ribs.

The black skirt was torn in three places, revealing pale, almost transparent skin underneath. There was no blood, only wisps of very faint black mist emanating from the wounds.

The black-clad corpse looked down at the sword marks on its body and paused slightly.

Then, the wounds healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

A surge of black mist closed the crack, restoring the skin to its original state. Even the tear in the skirt was automatically repaired. The whole process took less than a second, as if nothing had happened.

Wu You sighed.

The good news is that this move hurt it; the bad news is that it was pretty useless.

He sheathed his sword and stood there, looking at the expressionless face opposite him. Suddenly, he felt a little helpless; he was still not strong enough.

next moment.

"Help!"

Wu You suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs.

Since Director Ye said that last time, he didn't believe that the bureau hadn't sent someone to keep an eye on this area.

Such a large royal corpse is running rampant in the city; someone has to take care of it, right?

The voice just fell.

A figure appeared in his field of vision without warning.

He wore a gray short-sleeved shirt and black trousers; he was broad-shouldered and burly, like a moving mountain.

Moreover, the figure appeared too suddenly, as if it had been squeezed out of thin air, without the sound of wind, without footsteps, and without even disturbing the dust on the ground.

Wu You saw the face clearly: rugged, with long black hair, and a smiling face.

Isn't that the security guard at the Investigation Bureau entrance?!

Then, the other person's figure flashed.

Wu You didn't see what he did clearly; he really didn't see it at all.

He could only feel a violent gust of wind rushing towards him, as if someone had detonated a bomb in front of him.

The wind carried a terrifying force, making his clothes flutter wildly, his hair fly backward, and he couldn't even open his eyes.

boom--

It was a muffled thud, not the sound of metal colliding, not an explosion, just a very dull thud, like a punch hitting a sandbag.

The strong wind dissipated.

Wu You opened his eyes and looked in that direction.

The black-dressed corpse was still standing in the same spot, but half of its body—from its right shoulder to its waist—was gone.

It wasn't shattered, it wasn't blown apart, it evaporated into thin air, as if it had been wiped out of this world by something.

Wu You gasped.

Be nice.

What level of expert is this?

Wu You turned to look at the burly man, whose gray short-sleeved shirt was bulging from his muscles. He stood there as if nothing had happened, and was even smiling at him.

Wu You opened his mouth, his mind a jumbled mess.

Isn't that the security guard at the entrance of the Investigation Bureau? He nodded to them when he passed by a few days ago.

No.

Is this the strength of the Bureau of Investigation's security personnel?

What kind of monster is sitting in that guard booth?